First UN lifetime award for Thailand's King

UN will confer the first-ever UN Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award upon King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will confer the first-ever UN Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award upon King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

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The award has just been created and will be given to the King, who this year is celebrating the 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne in 1946, Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kitti Wasinondh and United Nations Development Program representative Joana Merlin Scholtes told a joint press conference on Friday.

The award will be given on May 26, during Annan's three-day official visit to Thailand. His wife would accompany him.

The UN secretary-general is scheduled to give a speech highlighting the King's achievements and his dedication to the development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kitti said.

Annan and his wife will have an audience with the King at Klaikangvol Palace in Hua Hin, a seaside district of the upper southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan the same evening.